Control
by M1Maul
Summary: Commander Shepard chooses to control the Reapers, but finds the choice to be more complicated than he originally thought. Will he survive and be reunited with those he loves? Reviews are appreciated!
1. Choice

According to the being in front of him, The Catalyst, Commander Maul Shepard had three choices. He could choose to destroy the Reapers and with them all synthetic life in the galaxy. He could merge his energy with that of the Crucible and create a bled of organic and synthetic DNA. Or he could choose to control the Reapers.

The choice to destroy the Reapers was tempting. If what The Catalyst said was true this choice would put an end to the Reaper threat once and for all, but he would be committing genocide. He would not only be killing the Reapers, but also the Geth and EDI. So Shepard decided not to choose to destroy the Reapers. He would not bring death upon millions.

Shepard could barely understand the second choice, synthesis. The Catalyst had not offered much of an explanation into what this choice meant, but Shepard believed he got the gist of it. If he were to run into the beam it would somehow change every living thing in the galaxy into something in-between organic and synthetic. He did not want to force this change on the whole galaxy. A change which he did not fully understand.

He had also been given the choice to control the Reapers. The Catalyst told him that he would die, but that the Reapers would obey him. This choice piqued Shepard's interest the most. He might be able to use the Reapers as a force of good in the galaxy, repair the damage they had done, protect the ones he loved. But, he was not sure. He did not know if he would be able to stay in control, if he would still be himself or become corrupted in some way. He did not even know if The Catalyst was telling the truth or if this was just some elaborate lie.

Of course he could refuse to make a choice, tell The Catalyst to go fuck itself. But, he would be condemning countless beings to death. Even as a united galaxy they lacked the strength to defeat the Reapers conventionally. Every advanced life form would be killed. Everyone living and all those not yet born. Everyone he had ever known would be killed. Anderson, Mordin, Thane, and countless others had already given their lives so that he might have a chance to end the war. Which one of his friends would be next? Joker?… Liara? No, he couldn't let that happen. He knew what he was going to choose. He would control.

He started to walk, or more accurately, hobble towards his choice. He could feel The Catalyst's "eyes" burning into his back, no doubt analyzing and picking apart his decision. Every step he took wracked his body with pain. He had been severely injured when he was struck with Harbinger's beam. It was a miracle that he could even walk. As he got closer he could make out what looked like handles with some sort of energy between them. He dropped the pistol he had been carrying and grabbed one handle then the other. Almost immediately he experienced pain more intense than anything he had ever experienced before. Even being spaced did not compare to this. The pain was so intense that he lost his grip on one of the handles. He somehow managed to get his hand back up and continue the process.

He started to think of his loved ones, the ones he was doing this for, all the while feeling his skin char and burn. He had failed Anderson. He was the one who pulled the trigger, even if the Illusive Man had made him do it. Thane had sacrificed himself to save the Salarian Counselor. If Shepard had been better Thane might not have had to die. Mordin gave his life so the Krogan could be cured of the Genophage. Kaiden, who he chose to leave behind on Virmire, and who was lost so early in the war. He had failed these people, but there were still some who were alive, Garrus, Joker, Ashley. But most of all, the love of his life, Liara. He would not, no, could not fail her!

The pain was getting worse, if that was even possible. Since the start of the war he had resigned himself to his fate. He had had a feeling that he would have to die, that he would fall protecting others. He had accepted this. He had dodged death for far too long. Gone on too many suicide missions, hell, he HAD died. He figured death would want him back.

He could feel the end. It was close. There was no more pain. He could even feel what he thought was the Reapers, apparently it had worked. He was ready to die. But… now he could see another option. With his limited control of the Reapers he did not have to die. Instead he could make a copy of himself. Shepard would live, and another Shepard would be created to control the Reapers. Suddenly he wanted to live, to see his friends again, to hold Liara. He made the choice and the pain returned, even greater than before. He felt as though his head would explode. He fell backwards, and though he could hardly see, saw a bright blue light, and then the Citadel closing.

As his world became darkness, his last thoughts were of Liara.


	2. Survivor

Private Green was part of a search and rescue team, one of the many to be sent to the Citadel. Green had fought in a few battles during the war, mostly against Cerberus, but he had been in the thick of it down in London. He was with one other private and two medics. All had seen more action than he had. Their mission was to try and find any survivors, unlikely as that might be. They had received no distress calls since it had been in Earth orbit, and so far they had seen no signs of life. What they had seen was death. Corpses were everywhere, victims of the Reapers. Most were civilians and had been gunned down as they fled, but here and there they saw signs of organized resistance. They would come across a hastily constructed barricade where members of C-Sec had made their final stand, but they found no survivors.

They had been searching for hours when the first survivors were found. Another group had come across five civilians hiding in a maintenance area. After that the floodgates opened. Groups started finding survivors everywhere. Some had hid, others had fought. One group had even holed up in Shepard's apartment. They said that they felt it was their duty to protect his home because he was protecting theirs. Reports of survivors continued to pour in, but Green and his group still found no one.

Another hour passed and they had wandered into an area of the Citadel that none of them had seen before. "What the hell is this place," one of the medics asked. Green looked around and shrugged. Suddenly the area where they were standing began to move. Green was unable to keep his balance and fell, coming perilously close to the edge of the platform. The platform stopped suddenly leaving only one path open to them, a long, dimly lit hallway.

"Everyone ok," asked Green.

"Yeah…yeah we're fine," replied the other private.

"I guess we only have one way to go," said one of the medics.

Greene looked down the hallway, "Looks like it. Be careful, I don't like this."

They started down the hallway. Green was at the front of the group with the other private at the back, the medics sandwiched between them. They soon emerged into a circular open area that had an open view of Earth and a control panel at the far end. They immediately noticed the bodies. The medics rushed to check for life signs. The body closer to the door was an older man dressed in civilian clothes.

"Shit, looks like he was indoctrinated," said one of the medics, "Checking for life signs…He's dead. I think he may have shot himself."

"Poor bastard," said Green, "Hey, you got anything over there?"

The other medic looked up, "Mine's dead too. Alliance military by the look of him, pretty high up too. Do you know him?"

Green walked over to the other body, "Shit…Yeah, I know him, that's Admiral Anderson."

The medic lowered her head, "Fuck. I'm calling it in." She called up her omnitool, "Fifth fleet command this is Medic Stillson."

A crackling voice answered back, "We read you Stillson, go ahead."

"We found Admiral Anderson… He's gone."

"Hold on Stillson, patching you through to Admiral Hackett."

There was a period of complete silence for around thirty seconds while they waited for Hackett. Finally they heard his voice on the radio, "Stillson, your priority now is to find Commander Shepard. We know he was with the Admiral shortly before we lost contact with him. I repeat, find Commander Shepard. Hackett out."

Stillson looked up from her omnitool, "You heard the man."

Green looked around the room. There were no other ways in or out. If Shepard had been there he wasn't now. Green wandered over to the control panel and called Stillson over to him.

"Do you know what this is for," he asked.

She looked at the panel and shrugged, "I'm no good with that kind of stuff."

"Let's see what you do," said Green, touching one of the buttons on the panel, "Nothing apparently. Come on let's look somewhere el-."

The floor beneath their feet began to move upward separating them from their two counterparts. When the floor finally halted they were in an area that was open to space. They could see what looked like the Crucible at the end of a long walkway. Having nowhere else to go they walked towards it. They then came to a part of the walkway that had three branches, but as they approached all but the leftmost path retracted.

"I don't like this," said Green, "I feel like someone's screwing with us."

"It's not as if we have a choice," replied Stillson, "Let's just keep moving."

They began to walk up the path. They went slowly and with caution, but they encountered nothing until they reached the end of the path. They saw what appeared to be a humanoid form, though it was blackened and deformed.

"Jesus, was that a person," Green asked.

Stillson didn't reply, but instead set to work. After a few seconds she looked up, "I don't believe it, but this person is still alive! Come help me."

Green rushed to help her and while he was leaning over the body, he noticed something. "Dogtags," he said, "We might be able to figure out who this is."

He grabbed the tags, wiping ash off their face. "N7, I can't really make out the name but…" he paused as he wiped off more ash,"Holy…Holy shit. We found him!"


End file.
